Steve's Little Girl
by Beautiful Scarlet Barnes
Summary: Steve Rogers adopts the daughter of Phil Coulson two years after his death. Can Steve raise Ashley? Even with all the events in his path of keeping her safe?
1. Chapter 1

Walking down the filthy street, Steve Rogers wondered just what had happened to the woman he'd been searching for, for two years. She'd never live in a place like this, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol was strong, gangs of teenagers walking around and the residents of the cheap buildings didn't look the friendliest either. He was worried, this neighbourhood wasn't safe. Looking back down at the piece of paper in his hands, checking the address again before he made his way down the cracked path and pushing open the door. Apartment number... 21A, he looked at the red door, paint chipping off and lock broken. Worry filled the Captain as he pushed the open the broken door. The sound of the TV filled his ears, the sound of a glass smashing a child crying soon followed. Relief filled him knowing that the child was alive, there was still the possibility of danger. As he stepped inside, the strong smell of alcohol and filth filled his nose. Clothes and trash littered the floor, the wallpaper and ceiling had dirt stains and yellow marks all over them. Glancing to his left, he saw the dirtiest kitchen he'd ever seen, empty and dirty plates everywhere, food all over the floor and the table was in pieces. Walking down the hallway, he stepped in what he thought was puke. The first door to his right, he saw a little girl with long, tangled and greasy dark hair and a face stained with filth. She didn't wear anything but diaper and a grey t-shirt, playing with a few toy cars that Steve remembered buying for Phil when he found out the man was expecting a child. Stepping into the small bedroom, he kneeled down before the girl.

"Hey there, princess. I'm Steve, what's your name?" he gave her a friendly smile, the little girl just smiled back up at him, 2 year olds can talk, right? The girl didn't say anything to Steve but she did shiver, Steve barely felt the cold in here. He saw the window was wide open, too many obstacles in the way to close the window. Checking around, there also seemed to be no clean clothes available for the child. Taking off his jacket, he wrapped the child's body in the warm winter coat and picked her up, putting the hood over her head and making sure she could still breath. She girl rested her head against Steve's shoulder, she felt too light to be a healthy weight. He may not be around kids a lot any more but he knew about healthy weights. Walking back out into the hallway, he was certain this was Phil Coulson's daughter. She had his eyes, he'd met her mother once or twice and was certain the child held a lot of her features, her dark hair and tanned skin definitely. Poking his head into the living room, he saw the woman he'd been looking for. She was a wreck, her dark brown hair was greasy and in a messy bun on top of her head, heavy bags beneath her eyes and a bottle of Fosters' Lager in hand, bottles - both broken and half-drank - laying around all over the floor, her clothes were just tiger print pyjama's that were worn and obviously too small, a faded pink tee shirt with yellow stains all over. Her green eyes were trained at the TV, which was on the shopping channel. Steve cleared his throat and slowly, the woman turned her tanned face to look at him. Eyes going wide, she dropped her bottle on to the floor.

"Steve?" she looked to be in disbelief, everything she had ran from was catching up to her suddenly. Everything she had become disgusted Steve, how could she live this way? Especially with a child, the daughter of a good man, dragged along in this rats cave.  
"The one and only" he couldn't help but look at the photos on the desk, most of which were turned down. Her with many different guys, none of Phil. "How could you run away like that? I was so worried about you and... And... Well, Phil's daughter." he sighed, he didn't get to know what the girl was called. Staring back at the woman, Steve asked the question playing on his mind. "What did you call her?" the look of confusion on her face was infuriating, Steve gestured to the now asleep child in his arms. The woman's face went blank, like she didn't care to answer his question.  
"I didn't name it" was her only bored reply, reaching down for the bottle on the floor. It caught Steve's attention that it wasn't even a beer bottle she was using, it was a babies bottle with the lid removed. It angered Steve to new levels that this woman, a woman he knew to be a nice and caring, was such a bad and unfit mother.  
"You know what? You are unfit to be a mother. I'm taking her back to my place, she's staying with me from now on." Steve took a few steps towards the door, stopping when he heard the horrified shriek from the woman.  
"You can't take her away" the drunk woman slurred at Steve, lazily reaching out for the child in his arms. The Captain gave the woman a cold look, holding the sleeping two year old gently in his arms.  
"I think you'll find I can, Melissa. You're not fit to be her mother." All Melissa did was drink and have random men over, most of the time she ignored the presence of her daughter. Steve Rogers was the god-father of the still unnamed girl, daughter of his friend Phil Coulson. Melissa Shrapnel had been pregnant when Phil 'died' and spiralled down an unhealthy path, unsafe for herself and her daughter.  
"The police will never allow it!" Melissa tried standing up, Steve took a step back.  
"I'm sorry, Mel. I'm only doing what's best for Ashley-"  
"Her name isn't Ashley!"  
"She doesn't even have a name, remember?! I'm naming her Ashley, I'll return for whatever things she has in a week." Ashley remained asleep, wrapped up warmly in Steve's coat. Steve promised Phil he'd take care of Ashley, that's exactly what he's doing. Despite her attempts to get Steve to stop, he walked swiftly from the apartment and away from the neighbourhood. Taking out his phone as he walked, he searched his contact list until he came across Natasha's number.

_"Hello?"_ the familiar voice of, not Natasha, but Clint Barton filled his ears.  
"Hey, Clint? It's Steve, can you put Natasha on?" Steve had a small smirk, knowing Natasha and Clint were a thing. It was only him, Bruce and Pepper that knew.  
_"Oh, uh, sure. I'll get her now."_ Clint clearly wasn't expecting Steve to call, didn't he look at the caller ID? Steve listened as Clint yelled for Natasha to come to the phone, finally hearing her voice.  
_"Steve? What's up?" _  
"I need some help, can you come by my place at about..." he trailed off to check his watch "About four pm today?" he finished.  
_"Sure, why?"_  
"I can explain better when I see you" he sighed, was there anyway to tell someone that you've taken your god-daughter from her alcoholic mother over the phone? Natasha sighed and replied with.  
_"Fine, I'll see you then."_  
"Bring those nice donuts, and some fruit" he added before hanging up, leaving Natasha to wonder what's going on.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting in at the edge of the bath in his apartment, Steve Rogers was attempting to give Ashley a bath. The water wasn't deep, he was just trying to get some of the dirt from her body and her hair. She seemed to like playing in the water, Steve had managed to dig some rubber ducks from one of his old boxes for her when he used to help out with Peggy's grandchildren. Yellow, pink, red, white and blue rubber ducks floating around in the water. Soon four o'clock came and Ashley was on the floor, dark brown hair in a braid and wrapped in a towel and a diaper he'd borrowed from the woman a few doors down. The doorbell sounded and Steve checked on Ashley before answering, seeing the familiar red-headed Avenger he'd worked with earlier this year.  
"Hey, I brought the donuts but the corner store only had tinned fruit" she handed a plastic bag to Steve and walked past him, shrugging off her brown leather jacket and hanging it up with Steve's.  
"It's fine, the fruit isn't for me anyway" he moved into the living space again. "Right, there's someone I need you to meet..." he sighed, glancing back at the space where Ashley had once been playing... "Damn it" where did she go?  
"Uh, Steve?" Natasha seemed pretty confused, looking at the rubber ducks on the laminated flooring.  
"She was right here!" Steve was panicking, not every item in his apartment was child-friendly. Hearing a crash from the kitchen, both Steve and Natasha made their way quickly into the small room. There they saw Ashley, giggling and pulling another plate out of the cupboard and throwing it onto the floor.

"Ashley!" he walked over, picking the small girl up and holding her on his side. "You scared me for a moment there, princess" he sighed seeing that she wasn't hurt. Remembering Natasha's presence in the room, he turned to her with a hopeless smile. "Ashley, this is Natasha. Nat, this is Ashley. Phil's daughter." he walked over to Natasha again. Natasha tilted her head, examining the small child.  
"Hello Ashley, my names Natasha" she gave a friendly smile, taking Ashely from Steve. Ashley gave Natasha a shy grin, her cheeks going red.  
"She doesn't talk too well, when I found her Melissa didn't seem very motherly" he sighed, starting the pick up the shattered plates, plastic bag on the counter. Natasha took a bowl down from the cupboard, opening up the tin of fruit and straining the syrup they were in and just leaving the fruit in the bowl.  
"I actually kind of expected that from Melissa, she was lost without Phil." she sat down at the table, Ashley on her lap and letting Ashley dig into the fruit with a spoon.  
"I'm just disappointed, you'd think she'd try to raise the girl, you should have seen the neighbourhood they were hiding in! It was filthy, the door had been broken for goodness knows how long..." he leaned back on the counter. "Want a coffee?" he offered, opening the cup cupboard and taking out his favourite mug; one with the London Eye painted delicately on, his name in a fancy yet clear text on the handle. Natasha shook her head, declining but thanking him for the offer.

"Melissa... I have no words for her." Natasha tried keeping her focus on Ashley as the girl ate, having abandoned her spoon and used her fingers to eat the slightly sticky peaches. "What are we going to do about the little one-"  
"She has a name, it's _Ashley_."  
"My dearest apologies." Natasha rolled her eyes, yet she showed a hint of an amused smile. "Now, what are we going to do about _Ashley_?" the girl didn't look up either of the times her name was mentioned, then again she didn't exactly know her name was Ashley... Thank you, Melissa. "Buying her some clothes would be a start, Steve"  
"I was planning to, only I have no idea what I would dress a two year old in..." He looked down into his cup, a spoonful of coffee beans and two spoonful's of sugar. No milk. As the kettle boiled away he turned back to Natasha.  
"That's why I called you, I need help with her. The only experience I have with kids is back in 2012 when I would help out with Peggy's youngest grandson..."  
"You called me for help with a kid?" she arched one of her dark red bows, Natasha didn't think she was at all motherly, Steve saw she was rather good with Ashley so far, all Natasha had to do was help him out with clothes, stuff for Ashley's room, et cetera... That is, if Steve could manage to adopt her.

3 Months Later

_"Steve? It's Pepper, how did everything go?" _the voice of Tony's girlfriend came from the pocket of his pants, Steve hated touch screen phones, they get rubbed in the wrong way and you've accidentally called someone. Or in this case, answered someone. Putting the phone to his ear, he sighed.  
"Sorry, Pepper. Repeat that?" he hadn't heard the first time, the woman chuckled lightly on the other end.  
_"I said, how did everything go?" _She repeated herself, all the Avengers and company knew that Steve was trying to adopt Ashley, it was now February 2015 and he had just found out whether the adoption was approved of or not.  
"Well... It could have better... They'd managed to get Melissa - That's Ashley's mom - down there, she screamed bloody murder at me." he let an exhausted sigh, stopping to sit on a park bench.  
_"Oh, Steve I'm sorry to hear... I only met the woman once, she always seemed so lovely..."_  
"Well, it was nothing we could control." he shrugged. "Anyway... Ashley Shrapnel isn't my daughter, neither is Ashley Coulson..." he heard Pepper's soft gasp at the other end, then audible murmurs in the background. That's when Steve realised he was on loud speaker.  
_"They said no?"_

"Well... Not exactly... Ashley Coulson might not be my daughter... But Ashley Rogers is!" he laughed, hearing a few claps, congratulations along with a 'You freaking prick!' from Tony Stark. Steve looked at the girl sat on his lap, dark hair in neat pig tails and wearing a sky blue dress with a white t-shirt beneath. Natasha and Pepper had dressed her this morning, Tony getting a suit for Steve to make the Captain look more presentable. Ashely was allowed home with Steve today, the paper work all signed and Ashley was now officially his daughter.  
_"Steve! That's amazing!"_ Pepper's gleeful tone nearly deafened him. _"Where are you now?"_  
"We're in the park, I was going to get Ashley some ice cream."  
"Ice cream!" the two year old giggled, looking up at Steve with a grin. He looked back down at Ashley with a smile.  
"That's right, and then we'll go see Aunt Pepper and Uncle Donkey-Face"  
_"Hey!"_ that time it was Tony's voice around the others' laughter.  
"Well, we'll be over in-" CRASH! RUMBLE! "2 minutes, I don't want to get caught in this storm."  
"But ice cream!"  
"We can have ice cream at Tony's, Ash. I promise." Ashley jumped from his lap just as it started to pour down in thick, heavy rain drops. Taking off his jacket, he picked up his daughter and set her on his side, covering her with a jacket as he jogged to The Avengers Tower, damn... What a day this had been for both Steve and little Ashely Rogers.


	3. Chapter 3

Silently, Ashley Rogers was laid to sleep in the bed Steve Rogers bought her. He was a father, he was still adjusting to it. The rest day had been spent with laughter and ice cream at The Avengers Tower. That Thunder storm had turned out to be Thor arriving on Midgard for a total of six days to check on things and help out on missions. Though Ashley had a great time listening to stories from Thor (of course, Steve made sure nothing graphic came up). Ashley seemed to love the story Thor told her about the time they battled a heard of Bildshnipe with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three (He mentioned Loki, though no one was too pleased the first time so he wasn't mentioned again). Ashley had been reluctant to go to sleep, so he had to put the TV on for her before she went to sleep. She wanted to watch a hero movie, she cried when he had turned over to a princess film. The Adventure of Captain America; The Animated Movie. Steve voiced it himself, oh how fun it had been. Especially when he had met the voices of Bucky (Brian Adams), Peggy (Neeta Knight) and the notorious villain; The Red King (Voiced by Hugo Weaving). Steve only did it on certain parts, technology these days... Managed to imitate his voice to say whatever they pleased. Though they made it very slightly different on request of Steve. It was a surprise to Steve that Ashley wanted to watch it; Maybe that was the Phil Coulson in her. Tonight there would be more Thunder (Thor said it wasn't him, so Steve didn't argue), he hoped it wouldn't cause any problems with Ashley, he's only just managed to get her into a normal sleeping routine. Settling down in his own bed, exhausted from his first day of being a real father, Steve thought about her first day of school tomorrow. Would the other kids like her? Well, it's only kindergarten, right? He was fine until people realised just how weak and frail he was. Back then, his bones were almost like glass. Broke a lot.

**_"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_** Steve jolted into Captain mode, running from his room, picking his shield up on the way before he burst into Ashley's room. Ashley was sat up in bed, screaming. She scrambled towards Steve and hid behind him, hugging his legs. Steve's eyes were drawn to the dark figure by the now open window, the star shapes coming from her lamp finally laid onto the intruders face. A tall man, a familiar bearded face... The face of Bucky Barnes.  
"Bucky?" he took a step forwards, the curious Ashley staying close to her dad. The man stepped forwards, the strong smell invaded Steve's nose. The smell of a wet dog. When was the last time he showered? Steve hadn't seen him in almost a year, not since Washington happened.  
"Steve..." the soaked man walked forwards even further, Steve let the shield drop with a thud that made Ashley squeak, reminding the two men of her presence in the room. "Who's the kid?" Steve took notice of his Russian accent, the husky tenor clearly not used to English despite a year in America.  
"Her name is Ashley, my daughter..." Steve picked the little girl up, her blue eyes watching Bucky. Her expression held curiosity - no more fear - It was a pleasant surprise to see someone unafraid for once.  
"I didn't know you had a kid..." Bucky watched as Steve sat at the edge of Ashley's bed, setting the girl on the sheets.  
"Ashley, Bucky's a friend. Why don't I put Iron Man on for you?" he asked softly, kissing her forehead softly as she got comfortable beneath the sheets. Ashley nodded and looked up at her father, blue eyes occasionally flicking over to Bucky curiously. Steve changed the DVD and said goodnight to Ashley, Bucky mumbled a goodnight and was the first to leave the room.

"Steve?" Bucky asked quietly from his seat on the couch, a mug of steaming hot coffee in his hand. He didn't trust his left hand, he didn't want to break Steve's mug. Steve sat down across from Bucky, placing a steaming cup on the table and looking at the brunet.  
"Yes?" he asked simply, no 'Yes Bucky?' or 'Yes, pal?' like he would have answered with back when things weren't so complicated.  
"How long have you had a daughter?" HYDRA had no information on a little girl, even if they did, would they have told him?  
"Only a few months, she's really my goddaughter, her father wasn't lucky enough to meet her." Steve let out a sigh "How did you know where I live?" Bucky suddenly looked embarrassed, staring down into the cup with felt like it was burning his palms.  
"I-I followed you home, I saw you and your girl - Ashley, right?" Steve nodded in confirmation. "I saw you both, I knew you straight away, I... I'm ready, Steve." A small smile grew on both Steve's clean shaven face and Bucky's stubble covered one. "I want to come home now."  
"You're always welcome, Buck." Problem was, the only bedroom Steve had left in this apartment was tiny and full of things Steve really needed to dispose of.  
"I have nowhere to go tonight, mind if I crash on the couch?" Steve would never turn Bucky away  
"No, I don't mind at all." Steve picked up his mug. "In fact, I have a spare room. It's a little small but you and I had to share smaller space back in the days." Steve reminisced, leaning back at all the distant memories of Steve's and Bucky's time together back in Brooklyn, the great 30s and 40s, until the war happened. He snapped back to the present when Bucky set down his mug, the porcelain making a soft 'clink' against the blue-tinted glass of the coffee table. Steve remembered he needed to buy wood one tomorrow to avoid Ashley getting hurt if the table was the ever break - Though apparently this was 'child-friendly'.

"We shared an apartment?" Bucky questioned, tilting his head slightly.  
"Well, we had our own apartments but with the cold weather and the faulty heater at my place, you stayed over a lot, brought blankets and stayed in bed with me to make sure I wouldn't freeze." Steve remembered the endless conversations, how Bucky would sneak in through the window after climbing the fire escape. Suddenly the lights flickered on and off, sound disappearing before _**CRACK!**_ Thunder had hit, making both Steve and Bucky jump in surprise. Then, screams and cries from Ashley's room and Steve sighed, getting to his feet.  
"I'll be right back, help yourself to anything in the kitchen." Steve left to Ashely's room and Bucky leaned back, eyes lit up in amusement as the memory of him and Dum Dum Dugan surfaced, everyone thought Bucky would be the first to have children out of the 'Brooklyn Boys', as Jim Morita had dubbed them.


	4. Chapter 4

Braiding the dark brown waves of Ashley's hair, Steve Rogers was taking her for her first day in day-care while he goes to S.H.I.E.L.D to sort some paperwork. He wasn't too sure about leaving her home with Bucky, he wanted to trust him so badly but he's been waking up every night screaming for help, if not that he would be sneaking into Steve's room to do God know what, Steve never found out. He would always wake up and as soon as he said 'Bucky?' Bucky would snap out of whatever trance he was in and go back to his room.  
"What dress do you want to wear today?" He asked, pointing at the two dresses on her bed. A pink dress with flowery sleeves and a blue and purple floral one.  
"Blue." She simply said and Steve tied the end over her braid with a blue hair tie and helped her into the dress. The weather outside was too hot to wear trousers, at least he thought so. Helping her with the knee high socks, he let her try her shoes, she managed to get them on the right feet but struggled with the Velcro straps. Bucky was watching from the doorway, bowl of cornflakes in his right hand, shovelling them into his mouth with a plastic spoon.  
"Where you going?" He'd not long been awake, most nights he was restless, tonight was a rare night he wasn't.  
"Taking Ashley to day care." Steve replied simply "You coming to S.H.I.E.L.D today?" He asked, glancing up at the ex-HYDRA assassin.  
"Not today, I think I might try and get some more rest." He yawned before taking the last mouthful of cereal. Steve just nodded and checked Ashley, making sure he didn't forget anything. She was dressed, she had a bath last night, she had banana Weetabix for breakfast, brushed her teeth, washed her hands... She was already potty trained, at least Melissa got that right.  
"I think we got everything, right Ash?" He asked her, she nodded and smiled at him.  
"Yeah!" She reached up for his hand and Bucky moved to the side as they made their way to the door.

About an hour later, Steve Rogers came back to his apartment after dropping Ashley off at day care, the first thing she did was wander off with a little brunette girl to play Princess. Steve was supposed to go to S.H.I.E.L.D but he had forgotten his wallet. Fumbling with his keys and pushing the door open, Steve met the most unexpected sight. The dining table was completely smashed up, the four matching chairs too. The table cloth was shredded up, vase smashed and the flowers he'd bought to brighten things up for Ashley were strewn around all over to floor, ripped into pieces. Reaching for his shield (which was buried under some coats) he made his way quietly to the kitchen. The room wasn't terribly destroyed, a few cups and plates smashed and the tea pot was dented and spout ripped off. It was dented with finger shapes. He heard a sniffle and cast his gaze to the corner of the room where Bucky sat, curled into a ball and holding something close to his chest. Walking over carefully, like a mouse trying not to tempt a cat, Steve managed to find his words.

"Bucky?" The brunets head snapped up, revealing a tear stained face. "What happened?" He put the shield down, kneeling in front of him.  
"I-I lost control Steve. I lost control..." He stared down to the item in his hands, Steve realised it was a plastic cup he used to give Ashley her drinks.  
"It's okay Buck, I'm here now-"  
"It's not okay!" He started to cry again, this was a side of Bucky that pained Steve to see. "It's not! I could have hurt her!" He must mean Ashley, Steve sat next to Bucky and wrapped an arm around him.  
"Ashley is safe, Buck. Besides, you gained control back when you saw the cup, right?"  
"R-Right... I'm not safe for her to be around, I could hurt her!"  
"I promise you, we'll make it work." Steve's eyes were red slightly, like he wanted to cry seeing his best friend like this. Only this wasn't his best friend, this was a broken man trying to be his best friend.  
"How can it work?" The look he gave Steve clearly stated his disbelief, all his self disgust showing through his blue eyes.  
"Because you got me, and I got you, that's all we ever used to need. Why is now any different?"  
"Steve you have a daughter, I don't want to hurt her... No, Steve I'll go stay with Natalia or Clint-"  
"Bucky please-"  
"No!" He snapped, Steve's eyes widened slightly and Bucky's expression crumbled slowly. "No, Steve. I'm not letting you put her life at risk because of me. " Even Bucky knew it wasn't safe, he was still unstable and it nearly killed him when he remembered a child lived here. Look at what he had done to the house, Ashley might get hurt and Bucky couldn't do that without hurting himself afterwards.

Realising this was a pointless fight, Steve slumped against the wall and looked at Bucky.  
"I'll call S.H.I.E.L.D tomorrow for you, they can help."  
"What if they arrest me?"  
"They'll give you a second chance, I know they will." He remembers when one of the other agents joined S.H.I.E.L.D, as long as their loyalties lay within S.H.I.E.L.D, and you prove they are, you should be fine. Natasha was offered a place in S.H.I.E.L.D this way, she lives in America under an extended visa authorized by S.H.I.E.L.D so long as she's faithful. She is, she's doing fine so far.  
"I'll think about it, for now it's best I leave... I'll help clean up the broken furniture first."  
"Don't worry about it, I'll call Natasha, though you may have to stay in Stark Tower."  
"Howard's alive?" The question made Steve's face drop. Bucky frowned.  
"No, his son Tony is though." Bucky didn't know the truth behind Howard's death, but the few times Steve mentioned Bucky, Tony had turned cold and rather angry, changing the subject. Steve always wondered how Tony would react to seeing Bucky, though his reaction was one most undesired.

Authors Note.

Sorry for the wait. I have bee very busy. It's GCSE year.


	5. Chapter 5

Bucky sat on the edge of the couch, head in his hands and a duffel bag at his feet. He was dressed in grey sweatpants, a black, long sleeved shirt and a pair of trainers that were a size too big. His hair hung around his face in dark tangles, despite Steve's nagging for him to tie it back (after he found some that were too dark to be his and too short to be Ashley's in his cup of coffee). He had dark rings around his eyes from lack of sleep and his lips her sore from constantly biting them. On the floor on the other side of the coffee table was Ashley herself, playing with a Buzz Lightyear action figure and a brown-haired Barbie doll, a few other toys scattered around her. She was talking to the toys and trying to make them talk to each other. At first Bucky found it weird that Steve bought her a Buzz Lighyear and other 'boys' toys until Steve had explained that she chose them and he wasn't sure what the problem was with girls liking things aimed more towards boys. Steve had spent the majority of the night finding someone Bucky could stay with; Tony said he didn't want him anywhere near the tower, Clint was busy on a mission, Natasha already had a roommate at the apartment S.H.I.E.L.D had provided for her, Thor was staying at Avengers Tower now that he was back on Midgard, Bruce was also staying at Stark Tower (even if Bruce had his own place, he wouldn't have wanted to put Bucky's life in danger if he was to get angry). But there was one person willing. Steve had only met her once, she had come to Avengers Tower for help with her powers that HYDRA gave her - well, she had the powers anyway but HYDRA only increased them dramatically - she brought her brother too, only he was looking for somewhere away from the Tower to live. That person was none other than Wanda Maximoff, a 25 year old human-mutant from the country of Sokovia in Eastern Europe. The woman had just got herself an apartment and when she heard that Bucky needed a place to stay she generously offered her guest bedroom to him. She was currently undergoing training to get better control over her abilities, Steve hoped that she could help Bucky out and maybe they could be friends.

"Ready to go?" Steve asked, walking out of his room carrying his dark blue jacket. The question was directed at Bucky but Ashley jumped up.  
"Yup!" Her slightly high pitched voice made Steve grin, her dark brown waves bouncing as she jumped around the room.  
"I know you're ready, princess." Steve picked her up and set her on his hip. Bucky gave a small smile at the two, though he wondered why he couldn't have the happiness Steve did. A part of this wasn't fair, how life had treated them all these years. It was still a dangerous world, now Steve was fighting to make this world a better place for his little girl, all Bucky could do was nothing.  
"Where does this girl live?" Bucky asked, standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder. The weight felt comfortable in his back, he was still careful not to irritate the scars on his back.  
"This girl is called Wanda, Bucky." Steve corrected, causing Bucky to roll his eyes. "It's not too far from here, it's in a quieter neighborhood. You should be grateful she's taking you in."  
"Who said I wasn't" He mumbled in response and the three made their way out of the apartment, locking up behind them and getting into Steve's new car.  
"Make sure you say thank you to her."  
"I will."  
"I mean it, she's a bit temperamental, at least that's what Tony tells me."  
"Everyone is temperamental around Tony."  
"True." Steve shrugged and Bucky showed a small smile at his best friend, if they were still able to call each other that.

Half an hour later, Steve pulled up outside of a building. It looked big, had many apartments and looked rather high class. Bucky didn't belong here, that was very obvious. Steve patted his shoulder and got out of the car, going around to help Ashley out of the car. When Bucky closed the boot of the car after getting his bag, a woman exited the building. Bucky froze. She had pale, clear skin and these shining blue eyes, her dark brown hair framed her face perfectly. Her red lips were forming a gentle smile directed right at Bucky, long eyelashes brushing her cheeks as she blinked. Unintentionally, his eyes drifted down to what she was wearing. A red v-neck sundress, sleeveless and just above her knees, it wasn't loose and baggy, but it wasn't tight either. It fit her just right and matched the red sandals she wore, toenails painted a metallic silver as well as her fingernails, though her wrists and forearms were completely covered by bangles and other bracelets. He snapped out of his trance when she spoke.  
"Hello," Her voice smooth and foreign, he remembered she wasn't American. "I'm Wanda, you must be Bucky." He wondered if English was her native tongue.  
"Y-Yeah, that's me." He offered his right hand for her to shake, she extended a warm hand to shake his cold one. "Thank you for letting me stay with you." he kept his gaze directed at her face, those deep eyes specifically. Her smile never faded as she studied Bucky's features, she wasn't judging him like a lot of other people were.  
"No need to thank me, Bucky, it's the landlord you should thank." She chuckled softly "Don't worry about rent or anything, Stark's got it all covered." Honestly, rent hadn't crossed his mind. At least it was no issue.

Steve stood back and watched the two talk, at least he was trying to hold a conversation with her. Wanda honestly couldn't be happier to have company, her brother refused to live with her because he thought it was better if they learnt how to survive alone. Wanda couldn't bare being alone 24/7, she was hoping Bucky could help her out as she tried helping him.  
"Well, I should be going." Steve announced, the two had nearly forgotten his and Ashley's presence in the parking lot.  
"You sure?" Wanda asked, offering Steve a smile then making a face at Ashley, making the small girl start giggling. "You can come in and have some tea if you like?" She offered politely.  
"Than you, maybe another day though." Steve declined politely "I promised Ashley I'd take her to the park, it's 2 pm now and I don't want to leave it too late." He explained, Wanda nodded.  
"Take care, Steve, have fun." Steve then said his fair wells and returned to the care with Ashley. Wanda turned back to Bucky.  
"Come on, let's get you settled in." The two walked towards the entrance of the building.  
"Call me later!" Steve called after them from the car, Bucky looked over his shoulder.  
"I will!"  
"Promise?"  
"Sure thing, pal."


End file.
